“Ray, how old are you?” Yurina asked as she watched Mrs . Lauren
skillfully measure his dimensions .
Yurina knew his age, but she didn’t want to assume and make a
mistake .
Are you 11 or 12 right now?
Raynard might get furious, thinking she conducted a background
check on him if she were to accidentally whether it be unintentional
or not, reveal that she knew his age .
According to her vague recollection, ‘Charrion’ was 2 years older
than Lydia when Marquis De Flon took him in that winter .
Since Lydia is the same age as Yurina and considering that it’s still
summer at the moment, if Raynard’s birthday has already passed…
then he must be 12 years old about now . If not, then she can
assume that he’s still 11 years old .
Raynard, who was making a stiff face while being handled by Mrs .
Lauren, shrugged his shoulders with a look of mischief as he saw
her watching him .
“I’m 12 already . You’re 10 years old, right? At least that’s what I’ve
heard,” he asked .
“Mhm . ”
“That means you’re 2 years younger than me . Aren’t you just a kid?”
He smirked .
Oh yeah?
Contrary to her physical appearance, it was Raynard who looked
more like a child to Yurina since mentally, she is already over 20
years old .
Even if you were to observe them from the outside, Ray still looks
much younger than Yurina .
Although Ray is two years older, because he hasn’t been eating
properly, he is similar or slightly smaller in size compared to Yurina .
No matter how good he thinks he may look to others, in actuality,
they still look pretty much the same age .
“You’re only 2 years older,” she stated .
“I’m only 2 years older? Could you grow up in 2 years? No, I can
grow up to be an adult 3 years faster than you . ”
“In what country does 3 years mean growing up faster when you’re
just 2 years older?” Yurina asked defiantly .
“I’ll be 13 soon . ”
“Huh?”
“13 years old,” he repeated and as if she couldn’t hear him well, he
held up his 10 fingers and then exaggeratedly switched them to 3 .
Further emphasizing the fact that he is 3 years older than her .
Regardless, Mrs . Lauren struggled to make him stay still and
lowered his arm with a firm face .
13 years old, huh .
Then that means that he’s actually 3 years older than Yurina and
Lydia . Yurina agonized at the difference between her memory and
reality and came to a conclusion .
I remembered it wrong .
If she couldn’t even remember the title of the novel, then it’s entirely
possible for her to have misremembered a lot of important details in
her small memory .
However, there wasn’t exactly a lot to remember about ‘Charrion’ .
Charrion had blonde hair and red eyes . He grew up under the owner
of a bar and ran away to an orphanage . He was later taken in by
Marquis De Flon in the middle of winter, and afterwards, he returned
to Lydia from the Royal Academy of Crohn during the year of her
coming-of-age .
The reason why she remembers Charrion’s setting—even though he
was just a supporting male lead—than the Prince was because
Charrion was more affectionate towards the heroine than the Prince,
who barely knew her, was .
I wonder why Lydia chose the Crown Prince and left Charrion
behind?
Yurina crossed her arms and scanned Raynard from head to toe .
She wondered just how in the world can this little egotistical boy
grow up to be such an affectionate man 8 years from now?
What exactly happened in the Academy?
“Ray, you should eat more rice in the future . What if you’re the same
height as me despite being 3 years older? The clothes you’re wearing
was used by my brother Rick when he was the same age as you and
still, it’s too big . ”
“Watch me . I’ll be taller in the future, so tall that your neck will hurt
when you look up at me,” he said smugly . He shrugged again and
Mrs . Lauren glared at him .
“How can you be so sure?”
“He told me I’ll be as tall like my father . ”
“Who did? Mother?”
“No . My father . My father is really tall . ”
During this moment, Yurina felt something amiss with the
conversation while talking with him .
What?
They weren’t discussing anything bad and yet he looks so hurt…
“Young Lady,” a voice suddenly called out to Yurina .
It was Robert, the butler who was standing in front of the door .
Raynard had an uncomfortable expression on his face, probably
because of the atmosphere or maybe because he is still dissatisfied
.
She had told her father Marquis Carthia that she wanted to be
friends with Raynard so she went to work . Yurina hinted at Raynard
to call her ‘Yurina’ and to speak casually to her .
If word spreads that she treats him like a servant, he would never
see her as a friend .
At first, he looked surprised, but with a very serious expression, she
gave him a few conditions and finally gave him permission .
1 . Raynard must learn etiquette .
2 . He must be courteous towards others, at least until he gains his
title .
3 . Continue being courteous and polite towards her three brothers
who are in the academy, including her parents and others .
Yurina thought about it as he nodded without any hesitation . And the
next day, she hired a tutor of etiquette to teach him the cultural arts
and proper etiquette .
Robert did not show any signs of discrimination nor dissatisfaction
towards Raynard overlooking his rudeness since the Marquis gave
permission to act like that . However, he could not completely
disregard him so whenever Raynard acts so openly to Yurina without
holding back, Robert would shoot a glare in his direction .
Whether he realized Robert’s displeased look or not, Raynard didn’t
seem to care at all .
You seem to be pretending you that you notice .
As Yurina alternately looked between Raynard and Robert, she
clicked her tongue . She could not simply accept this cold and tense
warfare between the two since it was completely absurd .
“Robert,” she called .
Only then was Robert snapped back to reality and realized what he
was doing . He bowed his head towards Yurina without any change
of expression .
“Young Lady, the master is looking for you . ”
“Now? Is it urgent?”
“Dave is with him . ”
Then it must be urgent .
Yurina got up from her seat and fixed her disheveled dress .
Mrs . Lauren went over and helped with arranging all the clothes .
“Is everything over?”
“We’ve recorded all of his dimensions . Now we can pick out the
clothing design and materials . ”
Raynard walked lightly and sat next to Yurina with a disgruntled face
.
“Is it not over yet? Haven’t I been standing all day? What else are we
doing here?”
“Making clothes isn’t that simple . Of course, we have to pick out the
clothing design and colors that suit you . You shouldn’t be so tired
already because once the outfits are decided, you have to pick out
shoes that match your clothes . Not only that, we still need to look at
handkerchiefs and jewelry . ”
With a tired face, Raynard shook his head . He slumped on the sofa
like a withered vegetable that was frozen and thawed in midwinter .
Robert glanced at Raynard, making no comment on his lack of
manners or grace with his facial expression and behaviour .
Raynard’s face was full of shock after seeing Mrs . Lauren bring in
the clothing catalogue .
The party that surprised everyone with his untimely behaviour felt
uncomfortable without even repenting .
“I think I’m going to die . What’s so complicated about it? I had no
idea that I’d be living so uncomfortably . I should’ve known when you
showed me those four forks,” said Raynard .
“Thanks for letting me know now . For reference, there’s still a lot for
you to learn from so don’t yell at me later for not warning you . You
still have a long way to go and you should sit up straight . Now that
you’re being sponsored by us, you are considered a member of the
Carthia household . If you’re ever caught doing something unsightly,
you’d ruin the Carthia name .
Yurina caught Raynard’s arm, he seemed to be protesting with his
whole body saying ‘I would rather be caught . ’
He looked at the people around him and scratched his head .
“But when I look at it, I can’t tell the difference . That… is it the same
color as this one?”
“It’s different . ”
“But they’re the same red . ”
“The one on the left is red with a mixture of brown while the right is
a mixture of yellow . Come to think of it, your skin color doesn’t look
good with the one on the right . I’ll have to remind you to never wear
that colour from now on . ”
Raynard opened his mouth as if to protest, ‘I can’t do it’ . Yurina then
grabbed his arm and pulled him off the couch .
“Anyway… I need to go speak with my father for a minute, so go pick
out designs and fabric . ”
“I’ll have to choose them alone? Don’t go . Can’t you stay here with
me?
Yurina sighed a little as he looked at Raynard .
He is still anxious .
It has already been a few days since he arrived yet he is still on
guard . He doesn’t even glance at people nor does he talk to them .
Especially if someone were to ever try to touch his body, he would
scream and retreat to the furthest part of the room .
A little while before, he had refused to allow Mrs . Lauren to take his
dimension . He finally gave in after hearing Yurina say, ‘It doesn’t
look good to be wearing clothes that aren’t fitted properly’ .
He lets his guard down a bit only in front of Yurina .
In this mansion full of strangers, she’s not sure whether he will be
able to learn to trust them . He’d put on an unsettling expression
whenever she leaves him alone .
He’s like a puppy who was abandoned by his owner .
A puppy with a drooping tail . Yurina felt guilty for some reason and
turned her head away from his gaze .
You’re always going on like this, huh?
While she was thinking that it was the usual, she wondered whether
that poor facial expression was actually some high-level acting .
“Are you uneasy about Mrs . Lauren?”
“I’m very uneasy,” he said as he gazed and squinted at Mrs . Lauren .
He had been wary of her since the first time he saw her . He had
said he didn’t like the way she looked at him .
“Just wait here for a little . Father and Dave are looking for me so it
can’t be helped . I’ll come back shortly and be with you . ”
“Still…”
“Okay . Robert will help you . Robert, can you help Ray and Mrs .
Lauren while I go visit my father?”
Robert, a faithful butler, immediately bowed his head and said, “Of
course . ”
Yurina left the room . Raynard returned to looking at Mrs . Lauren’s
clothing designs and showed a grim look .
